Call-register.



H. P. (JLAUSPN & W. T. CURTIS.

CALL REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 15, 1910.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

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H. P. GLAUSEN & W. T. CURTIS.

CALL REGISTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR.15, 1910.

1,078,772. r Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

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OALL REGISTER.

APPLICATION 11.31) MAR.16, 1910.

Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

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HENRY 1?. CLAUSEN AND WILLIAM T. CURTIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORS TO SAMUEL C. SCOTTEN, TRUSTEE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS. I I

CALL-REGISTER.

invents;

Specification of Letters Patent.

- Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

Application filed March 15, 1910. Serial No. 549,482.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HEN Y I. CLAUSEN and VILLIAM T. CURTIs, citizens of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Call-Registers, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

Our invention relates to mechanisms for registering the number of calls made at a subscribefis station and has for its object to improve such mechanisms so as to prevent misunderstandings between the central operator and the subscriber in the matter of registering.

The type of mechanism to which ourinvention relates is that wherein the registering mechanism is operated manually by the subscriber, central being notified that the register has been moved one step by means of a signaling device associated with the register.

In accordance with our invention, we so arrange and connect the registering devices and the signaling devices that the completion of a registering movement insures the giving of a signal while, on the other hand, no signal can be given until a call has been registered, Consequently there can be no dispute between a subscriber and the telephone operator for the registration and the signal are completed together and one cannot be made without the other.

The various features of novelty whereby our invention is characterized will hereafter be pointed out with particularity in the claims; but, for a full'understanding of our invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4 are views showing, respectively, the side, the top, and the two ends of a device embodying our improvements, the inclosing casing'being omitted; Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are sections, on an enlarged scale, on line X- .X of Fig. 1, each of these figures showing the parts in a positipn differing from that in the other figur s; and Fig. 8 i a view similar t the le t-hand end of Fig. 1 on an enlarged scale.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a frame in which is mounted a shaft B, on which are loosely mounted a series of registering disks, C C C and C. On one side of the disk C is a ratchet wheel D having the same number of teeth as there are numerals or other indicating devices on the periphery of the disk; E is an operating lever for the register, loosely journaled upon the shaft B and projecting upwardly hro gh an ep ni g'a in the m .F is a spring suitably arranged to hold the lever in one extreme position. Upon an arm E projecting laterally from the lever, is a spring-held pawl Gwhich cooperates with the ra het h el H i pawl ngag ng with the ratchet so as to hold it yieldingly in any position to which it may be moved. Wheneverthe subs riber makes a, call, he

'moves the lever from the position indicated in Fig. 5, to that indicated in Fig. 7 This turns the first disk of the series through one of the steps and, when the lever is released,

while the disk remains locked by means of the pawl 1 It is necessary that the central operator be apprised of the completion of a registration, and it is, therefore, usual to have some sort of buzzer associated with the registering mechanism so. as to make and break a circuit and give an audible signal at the central station when the registering mechanism is operated. It is very desirable that the signaling device he so arranged that it will operate with certainty whenever the register has been moved forward one step, and, furthermore, that the signal cannot be given before the spring returns it to its normal position,

the registering lever has been moved its full might arise.where the subscriber would move the operating lever through only a part of its working stroke and then, seeing it return to ts normal position, would contend that he had registered, even though no signal was heard by the operator. In accordance with our invention, therefore, we provide not only a construction which will signal and register positively, and in such a manner that no signal can be made without registering, or vice versa, but one in which the operating lever must be actuated througha full stroke before it will return to its normal position, so that, if the subscriber releases the lever before it has completed its stroke, he will have positive evidence that he did not register or signal.

The signaling device includes a stationary contact piece I and a movable contact piece J. The member J is preferably made of spring metal secured at one end to the frame and having its other end free so as to permit it to vibrate under proper conditions. .Since the present invention is not concerned with the particular form of signaling arrangement, no further description thereof, with the exception of the member J, will be given. The resilient contact-maker is positioned adjacent to the plane in which the lever E moves. The lever E is provided with a second laterally-projecting arm E which extends into proximity to the member J. Projecting from the edge of the member J, nearest the operating lever, is an ear j which overlaps the free end of the arm E The major portion of the ear j lies parallel of the plane of movement of the arm E but at its lower end it is curved or bent laterally, as at j and at its upper endit is also curved or bent laterally, but in the opposite direction, as at j When the arm E moves toward the ear from below, the portion 7" guides it to the rear of the car as viewed in Fig. 5; but, when the arm moves toward the ear from the opposite direction, the portion j guides the arm toward the front of .the ear, as viewed in Fig. 5. Consequently, when the lever is moved through its working stroke, the arm E passes along one side of the ear and holds the movable contact member positively out of engagement with the fixed contact member, so that a signal cannot be given until the lever has been moved'far enough to carry the member E above the portion 7', namely, until the lever has completed its working stroke. Near the upper end of the'ear j, and directly beneath the curved portion j is a laterally-projecting lip j extending in the same direction as the part f. The parts are so proportioned that shortly before the operating lever reaches the end of its working stroke, the arm E rises above the lip j and the resiliency of the member J causes this lip to be carried laterally into the plane of the-arm, so that the member J and its lip act as a spring pawl /to prevent the return of the actuating lever. This condition is illustrated in F 6. When the lever is moved from the position indicated in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 7, the end of the arm E rises above the part 7' so that, upon release of the lever, the arm engages with the upperside of the curved portion j and deflects the member J laterally so as to permit the arm to pass down the front side, as viewed in Fig. 6. During its downward passage, the arm engages with the curved portion j and deflects the member J still farther; and, as soon as the arm passes below the lower edge of the portion j the member J begins to vibrate. The

locking of the lever against return may, of

course, take place at any point of its working stroke, but we prefer to have it occur near the end of the working stroke, not only because of the greater danger of misunderstandings if the lever is moved so as almost to complete its working stroke, but for a further reason which we will now describe.

The meter which we have illustrated is of the type wherein the reading is taken at the central station through electrical cqnnections between the register and the central station. For the purpose of making these readings from a remote point, each of the disks of the register is provided with a series of projecting ribs of varying lengths, as indicated at 0, c 0 and c Directly beneath the shaft of the registering mechanism is a second shaft K. The shaft .K is provided with a spiral groove which makes but few turns throughout the length of the ,shaft.

L indicates a traveling-block arranged upon the shaft K and carryinga switch mechanism M which includes a contact maker m, projecting into proximity to the disks. When the shaft K is rotated, the block or carrier L is caused to travel from one end toward the other and the contact piece m engages with each of the ribs which happens to lie within its path. Whenever, during movement of the -block or carrier in one direction, the contact piece engages with one of the ribs, a circuit is closed and, by means of a suitable recording mechanism at the central station,'a record may be made of the exact condition of the register. In Fig. 5, the condition of the parts is such that the rib c on the first disk lies in the path of the contact piece m, while in Fig. 7 the rib c has passed beyond the range of the contact piece. lVe prefer to arrange the lip j on the member J so that just before the end of the rib 0 moves out of the path of the member m, the lever is locked so that it cannot be returned to its normal position without completing its stroke. "Conse quently, if a reading at this time were taken from the central station, it would stillibe ,cor'rect, corresponding to the reading which would have been given'before the register was partially operated. The shaft K may be operated so as to move the carrier I from the left-hand end of the 'deviee,.as it appear in Fig. 1, to the right-hand end by means of a suitable key, not shown, which actuates a segment N, meshing with a pinion 70 on the end of the shaft. During this roration of the shaft, aspring O is wound up. Upon release of the key which actuates the segment, the spring 0 turns the shaft in the opposite direction and returns the carrier to the starting point. We prefer to provide a uitable esc'apement device P on the end oi the shaft opposite that on which the pinion is locate What we claim is:

1. In combination, a registering device, a. traveling contact, a series of contacts as sociated with said device and adapted to cooperate with said traveling contact to produce an indication of the condition of the device, manually controlled mechanism for moving said device step by step,'and means for locking said mechanism against return to its nornial'position Without completing the actuation of the device just before the changing of the condition of the contacts associated with. said device.

2, In combination, a registering device,

an operating lever, connections between said operating lever and said device for moving said device step by step, a Contact arranged to be moved past said device, a contact car'- ricd. by said device in position to be engaged by the aforesaid contact in one position of said device and to be out of the path of said contact in the succeeding position of said device, and means for locking said lever so as to prevent it from returning to the starting point Without completing its Working stroke just before the contact on said device iscarried out of the path of the coiiperating contact.

In combination, a registering device,

ii -i a signal-controlling device including a resilient contact-maker, an operating member for said device, an arm on said member for acting upon said contact-maker after the completion of the working stroke of said member so that the contact member is deflected and then released soas to allow the said contact member to vibrate, and means on said contact-maker for engaging with said arm so as to lock said member against return movement after it has passed a predetermined point in its Working stroke until after it has completed that strok d. In combination, a registering device, a signal-controlling device including a resilientcontactnmker, an operating lever for said device, an arm .rojecting from said lever adjacent to said contact-maker, said contact maker having separated oppositelyinclined portions which serve to deflect it to one side of the arm or the other depending upon the direction in which said arm approaches, and said contact-maker having a shoulder in position to move beneath said arm and prevent return motion of the lever when the lever is actuated so aslto partiaily shift said registering device In testimony whereof, we sign this specification in the presence of two Witnesses.

HENRY P CLAUSEN. \VILLIAM T. CURTIS- Witnesses:

LOUIS G. Brno, R. H. DEAKMAN. 

